Automatic musical instrument.



P. WUEST, JR.

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18. 1908.

1,1 1 1, 1 22 Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

4 BHEETSSHEBT l.

WITNESSESI N H INVENTORI P/i/LU M/AZSTJ/i,

P. WUEST, J2. AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED an 18, 1908.

1,1 1 1,122. Patented Sept 22, 1m

4 BKEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSESI INVENTORI PHIL/F 14 4/55? JR,

r115 Aonws PETEDS co vuom unm wAsw vurcw, o c

P. WUEST, JR. AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLIOATXON FILED MAY 18, 1906.

1 ,1 1 1 122. Patented Sent 22. 19m

WITNESSES: 29 NVENTORI P. WUBST, JR. AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED MAY 18,1908.

1,1 1 1,122, Patented Sept 22, 19%

Q SHEETS-SHEET 4.

gmqll vented certain new; and .us'efulflrnprov UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP woss'r; JR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,i\$SI GNOR TO THE AUTO- MANUAL PIANO ACTION COMPANY, 02" PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. A COR- PORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters-Patent. Y. P t nted Sept. 22,1914.

Application filed May 18, isms.- Serial No, iaa'iia To all whom. it may concern."

Be it known that I, PHILIP WUEsr, :Jr., of Philadelphia, in the countyoflhiladelphia andState ofPennsylvania, have in ments in Automatic l lusical ilnstrumentsf whereof the following is a specification, ref-. erence being had to the accompanying drawings.

In Letters Patent of the, United States No; 847,534:, dated March 19th, 1907-, I have; shown and. described fa damping device. adapted to be combined-width piano,.aiidz having for its purposethe variation: of [i-ef effect of the playing mechanism upon vcers; tain of the' strings independentlyof the others. Although, said ,deviceis susceptible of employment connection with a piano whose hammers are automatically actuated, it requires the personal control of the-Qpelfp tor, who must shift it, manually or means of a pedal, at the proper intervals,

The object of my present invention is to provide a damping device for automatically varying the effect of the playing mechanism. upon certain groups ofstrings independ.-' ently of the others, in a piano whose ham mers are automatiez-i-lly actuated by the well known pneumatic svstem.-;tl1e control of thedamping devicebeing attained by means of the perforated sheet and tracker bar, which are employed for the actual playing.

-In the accompanying drawings, Figure I, represents a partial front elevation of the interior of a piano casing, to which my invention has been applied, the details of the playing mechanism proper being omitted for the sake of clearness. Fig. II, is a vertieal transverse section on the line II, II, of Fig. I, snowing the location of the hammers with relation to the damping device. Fig. III, is a top or plan view of the chest containing the pneumatic mechanism, which directly actuates the damping device. Fig. IV, is a vertical longitudinal section through said chest on the line IV, IV, of Fig. III. Figs, V, and VI, are respectively transverse vertical sections on the lines V, V, and VI, VI, looking in the direction of the arrows in Fig. III. Fig. VII, is a vertical transverse section on the line VII, VII, in Fig. III. Fig. VIII, is a diagrammatic view of a. portion of the perforated sheet and tracker bar, illustrating the manner in which the damping device is ...controlled (1W means of said sheet.

As in my said patent above referredto, thqdaarpmgdeviee for varying the effect of th'ehaininenblows upon certain Off the strings ncludes a, pendent'strip of suitable Imate:

rial, such .as. felt or. .soft leather, ,which -nor-' mally lssupportedclear-of the striking line of the hammers, but; can ,be shifted so as to be temporarily interposed between the hammers andv the .seleetedgstrings.-- The gen-] eral object a device i s,to,subdue the sound of certain notes or groups. 'of notes without afiectmgothers, as ingth-ecase of an ,aecon p animent: and a solo-.. Practically; speaking, this purpose s sufficiently attained bv, dividing the strings, into two-groups,

one, of-Which preferably eorr'es poiids with t ea notes. e d e h co e. 1 ment of ,the treble, cleft, .the,.0ther ;co r re ponding with the notes from ,the low est of .75

the. treble clef to the upper limit of the reg-- ister. Hence while my invention is not necessarily limited .to a, subdivision into two groups, I have thus shown. it',in the accom panying draw;ings,,. and will-describe it as 8 thus embodied. 1 Referring now to the drawings, 1, repre sents the casing of: an ordinary. upright piano, whose hamnie rs 2-,,(see Fig. II) are adapted to be actuated by. neumatics controlled through a tracker bar 3, by means of a perforated sheet 4, shown in dotted lines in Fig. II. Said pneumatic playing meclianism-heing well understood, it is not deemed nccessary. to refer thereto in detail, beyond stating that the hammers 2, are controlled by-means of what may he termed the main set of perforations 5, in the sheet 4, (see Fig. VIII).' In front of the strings 6, I provide dai'npingstrips, in this instance two in numher, indicatedat T, and 8, respectively, the strip 8, being indicate-:1 in its raised position, where its lower edge is above the striking line of the hammers 2, while the strip '7, is

indicated as in its lower position, where it is interposed between the hammers 2, and the strings 6. In the instance selected for illustration, this lower' position is the normal one, when the damping devices are thrown into operative relation to the hammers. strip 7, correspondsindateral extent, with the group of strings constituting the bass, as above mentioned, while tlie- .strip 8, corre- The ' pne nna tics 28*, and30f'to 'whieh they are 2341- 5 fastenedgto the hook 25','-inounted upon the a re in free communication *With for said arms is provided by means of a rod 17 ,iwhich, in this instance, extends the whole transverse length of the instrument, and which is rigidly supported "at its ends 1n brackets 18, 19, secured to the casing,and at 1 "intermediate points by bracket's'20, 21, se-

cured to the frame. I

The arm 12,"of'the frame 10, and .the arm 14, of the irfaihej 11 are prolonged beyond,

their pivotal bearings upon the'rod 17, so

as'to constitute levers, bymean"s" of which the frames independently" actiiated, soas to raise' a'nd lower the da'mping strips respectively carried-thereby. Said arms 12,

and I 14-, are adapted to inkived' the just-ably? attached respectively? 7 e The neumatics 28,"a'nd 30,-are secured to the vacuuiiijchest '26, and" their operation is controlled as will be hereinafter described.

spring 24,'-'ishttached to the lever 14,

between-its=pivotal PIjint Qaiid the point of attachment to'the 'fra'i'r'ie11,';as shown in Fig. 11." and the fother ;end of saidspringus' chew-26; a *-si;miiar, s 1ing is attached in like relation tothedever 12. The'se springs r lift the damping" devices abovethe striking level 'olf the hammers" 2;wheri'th pheumaties phere. i

The chest 26, is in communication with the exhausting bellows (not shown), by means of the tubes 31, and 33, which have interposed between them a valve box 32. 'Said valve'box 32, is of well known construction and hence need not be shown in detail. Its object, however, is to allow the communication between the exhausting bellows and the chest 26, to-be cut off and hence to permit the daii'ipingldevice to remaininactive, at the will of the operatorf Thevaive in box is controlled by'the slide. valve 36, which is connected with a hand lever 37, by means of a link 38. Said slidevalve 36, is interposed between the tube 10, which leads to the valve box 32,"and the tube a11,'which is connected with the exhausting bellows, and it is obvious that by manipulating lever. 37, the exhaust through the tube 40, niay'be cut off so as to close the valve in box 32 and in turn cut off the exhaust through 'tube 33, and

The stripsv the atmos communication with the chambers 52, and

53, through the ports 51, and 5 5, .respec-.

tively. Saidchambers 52, and 53, are in turn connected by Ineansof a tube,5 8. A nipple 58, connects the chamber 52,"with the tube 33,-;and it will be readily seen that the. chambers 50, and 51, are directly connected ,with the exhaust 33, when the valves 60,:and

61, are open which is always the case, as

they have"1i'6"direct relation to the automatic control of the damping devices, but are for a purposewhichwill'hereinafter be sc b d; a 4 As shown 'in 'FigL VII-I, two auxiliary ducts and71', are located on the tracker bar 3,"one on .'each'iend ,of the series of main ducts whichcontrolthe actual playing mech- 'anism." Thei'nusic sheeti', isfalso provided with"a"'series ofauxiliary apertures-72, and

73, arranged along its edges, and adapted to register withjthej ducts 70,; and '71, respectivel-y. Tlfedain'p'ing' device forthe bass is controlled- 5y'thfiapertures 72, and that for thtieb'li-by theapert-ures-73; hence when it is desiredto cceiit'a note or chord, on either thebass 'er 'treble, one" of these aux ili ary perforations is placed slightly in advance of the"-'transvers line which would correspond-withf-theposition of the main perforations which control the playing of such 'net'or cho rd ,--assuming, of course, that t'henuxiu ry openings of the tracker bar are in linewiththe note controlling'aperturesfa'sshown irifthis instance. Referring to-Fig, 'I ,"t ube's"7-5, and 76, lead from -the'di ict-70,land'71, respectively to the nipples77fand 78, which are located at the ends of'the channels -79,;a1id'80, located in thewall 81fof the chest 26. Said channels 79,, and 80, communicate with the circular recesses '83, and 84, across which are spanned the diaph'ragms 85, and 86, respectively. The. bleed holes 105-, and 106,- c-xtend from the "chambers 50, and 51, to the circular recesses 83, and 84, respectively, and their 1 function will be described later. Above said diaphragms and adapted to be engaged thereby, are suspended the pins 87. and 88, carrying the valve disks 89, and 90, which are covered with leather on both ends and play loosely in the openings 91, and 92, in the cover 93, of the chest 26. The opening 91,"i s' closed at the top by a disk 95, having an aperture 96, and at the bottom by a similar disk 97-, also having an aperture 98. The valve pin 87, fits loosely in the aperture 92' and 9Sj-and the disks 95, and 97, form seats for valve 89, which is'therefore double acting. The opening 92, is also incloscd at its ends by the disks 100, and 101, having apertures 102,'a nd 103, over which the valve disk 90, plays. The openings 91, and 92, communicate with the recesses 110, and 111, throughthe channels 112, and 113, respec tively The recesses 110, and 111, are

110, and 111.

spanned by the diaphragms 115, and 116, above which are suspended the valve stems 118, and-120, whose lower ends are bent in the fornrof rings,- andr-.adapt ed to; be en annular openings inthexpla'tes 137, and-138,1

which span theends of the opening @123, and are provided with t'ongnesildogzand 14:1 respectively, for supporting and guiding: said valve stem 120; The-bpenings 122 and 123 are in communicationwithntheubellowsa 28, and 30,-thrdughthe channels: 150, and: 151, respectively-"m6 1 .1

.1 21h; a": Normally, the dampingsdevices are 'both raised, but for convenience :ofillustration, one of'them has been shown in-the lowered; position and the-operation of the device will now be described-"w. a' -As'shown-in Fig. vllLithe music sheetn, covers the aperture ,70; The pressure't-on both sides of the diaphragm (Fig: isequalized by means of-the bleed hole 105, and therefore the diaphragm iskept lows cred-by its own weight.= The valve diskt89, over the opening 98, in :the disk. 97,- '-also drops, thereby allowing atmospheric pressure to enter through. the opening.- 96,1111 the disk 95,'and channel-.112, to the circular. recess 110. The-diaphrag'm 115, is therefore raised'and with it: the stem 118,"=thereby opening'the valve 126, and closing thevalv'e 125. The pneumatic 28, is now in communi cat-ion 'iththe chamber 50, through chan-' nel 150, and hence'collapsed due to the vaciium therein. The collapse of said pneumatic 28, causes the left hand endof lever 12, to be raised and its right hand end- 'loW-- ered, against thetension of spring-24,-thus causing-the damping device 7, to again fall into the path of the hammers of the bass portion of the piano, thus subduing' "the sound of the note or chord, that may be struck at that instant. I

As the two sections of the device are identical, itwill be'convcnient to describe the opposite state of affairs on the treble side, which explanation will therefore also hold good for the bass, when an aperture registers with the duct for raising its damping device.

The aperture 73, in sheet 1, registers with the duct 71, thus allowing the atmospheric pressure to enter through the. tube 76, and channel 80, tothe circular recess 84, (Fig. V); thereby raising therdiaphragmz86,and with-zit the :valve 90,.hence-.closiiig the opening 102, and establishing communication between ---;..the; chamber -51",\. and recess 111,

through :the channel 113,2andanzalve opening 103) m disk 101'. The 'apress'ureiona both sides;

or the diaphragm-116,5 isrt'iowrequalized and ittherefore drops. bysatsaqwn-iweights .Theweight iof.v thestem 120, 2 with its: :dis'ks 13 5,- and @186, causes it i to .drop; thus i'elosing the; opening? implants-138; and allowing:atmos pheric:pressure'zto'-enter.:'the pneumatic .30, i through the opening iii plate 137;: and chani n'e'l 1123.1 dllheipneumatici 30, 115 now a :opened iun'der thetension of spring 24:, thusapulling':

up vthe 'right hand end' ofz-leverzl'lgrandixvith it the: damping device 8, thereby: allowing the hamn'iersrin the-1 treble=section to" strike 1 the strings. without the interposeda dampihg strip; 3 x ltizwill *be'- evident, therefore; :that- I:

have (provided :a pneumatic actuating niecli anismz-i forl shifting the': s damping-v1device," 1 which: actuating:meehanismg-inoludes i'inain valvesand ithati the main :valves' are con;v trolled also by a pheumatic'actuating; means-, which includes; auxiliaryivalves and: thatthe.

auxiliary valvesare? controlled. pileumati-g callyubyi the niusid sheet. 1 1.1 .1 are-r1 A h 5I-rf the particularhinstance shown in the drawings; thetrebleflportidn :i's being accents ed and thebass -is -=s'ubdliedfor the purpose of accompaniment:

iRcfer-ence has above beenv made' to 'zthe va1ves-f60,-:and 61, *as having?- no; direct relation to the automatic control of thexh'nnpingadevices Thepurpose ofuthesevalves will now be described. Under some circums stances, as for instance, where the-jperforated roll or music sheet is notprovidedwith the necessary auxiliary perforations,- the op erator mayidesire-to employ the damping devices by manual control. am-I i r; i i As hereinbefore stated,-the neumatics 28, and 30, are normally collapsed, and this is the-case when the ducts 70=aridj 171, are covered by the music sheet 1,:hence if said sheet were not provided with the auxiliary apertures, the dampers would neverberaised, practicallymaking the device. useless, and the conditions "assumed by both sections would be thoseshown as to the bass section in F-igJ-IV-L- These-valve disks 60, and 61, are: adjustably: mounted on the stemslGO, and 161, which .are suspendedover the din phragms 162, and 163, spanned over the circularrecesses 165, and 166, in the bottornogt the valve chambers 52, 11111153, respectively.

Channels 168, and 169, lead from recesses sure on both sides 0 der; tension 10f i-springfl and; the: valve stem hand levers 180, and 181, respectively as shown .in dotted lines in Fig. As both these auxiliary valves 60, and 61, are the same, it lwill suliice .to explainithe action of one of them. The-valve-fit), 'in Fig. V'II,.is open on account-ofzthe circular recess 165', being in communication with the atmosphere through-duct i168, and nipple-170; The diaphragm-162, is therefore {raised by the atmospheric pressure, and with it the stem 160,: and disk 60,thus opening the :port- 55, and. affording communication between: chambers 50, and 52. I ftthe ,valve 178, were now closed by shiftin lever-r180, thepres theiidiaphragm 162, would be equalized byuthe :bleedihole: 1175,: thusthe1stem'16O,'avould drop by its own weight andr'the'disk' 60, would thericoverithe' port .55, and hence cutting offthe. communi cation between chambers 50, a'ndt-52.

2 Referring :now '1 to Fi'g. MI, 1 it will be seen, that. the vacuum tic/longer: would i exist in:

chamber ;50,':if-the valve-60, werelclosed, and

thereforeitli'e' pneumatic 28, fivo'uld; openaum;

118,-" would also drop *by nits lovrn' aweight carrying disks: 125, :andaz126, with all i As hereinb'efore explained, the opening io-f-lthepneumatic 28, causes the damper 7,6110 :be raised from the striking level of thelhammers; The-above reasoning would also hdld good forethe ;treble:sectio'n1;of- :thesdevicel- It isynow .obvious ithat the operation of :the dampers is now placed at=the'-willrof;the operatoraiibyuwhom they can be -manually controlled 'by the use of, said levers J80, and'181. 11: Having .-thus described -my invention, I claim:

-1. -The combination, .with the strings and hammers, and with pneumatic iplaying mechanism for said hammers, .including a tracker-board and perforated sheetyvofia movable damping device adapted'to be temporarily interposed between the 'hammers and strings; pneumatic actuating mechanism for shifting-said damping device; and pneumatic actuating means whereby said actuating mechanism may Jbecontrolled by auxiliary perforations in said sheet.

2. The combination, with the strings and hammers, and with pneumatic playing mechanism for said. hammers, iucludinga tracker-board and perforated sheet; of a plurality of movable damping devices adapted to be temporarily interposecl'between the l ent groups of auxiliaryrperforations in said sheet.

3. {I he combinatiomawith ethe strings and hammers, and withi-z-r'pneumatic playing mechanism for said, iha'mmersgiincluding. a trackerboard.andaperforated sheet; of a movable damping device adapted to be item-- porarily interposed betweenthe hammers and strings;epneumaticactuating mechanism ,for

, shifting said damping device pneumatic ac.-

. tuatinginean'siwh'ereby saidactuating mechanism maygbercontidlled'hy auxiliary 1perfo' rations in said ,ishet;liand .pne'umat-ic actuating means \whereby saidsactuatmgemechanism mayfb'elman a-lly bontrolldrby the operatorx; n11 A 1 '10; A; The combination with-strings and-hammers, and z-pneumatic rplaying mechanism for saidihammers, iincludingza tracker ,board and perforated slieetfof'a movable damping deviceiiadaptedzto be temporarily 1 interposed hetweemthe-ihammers' and. strings pneumatic actuating inecha nism for shifting said damping *idevice -nincluding a- Jm'ain valve; and a pneumatic actuating-meansineluding an auxiliary: Uvalve controlled 'by perforations in Ethe sheet 'foraoperatingsaid main valve. j' Y i 5. The combination with stringsand hammers and with -pneumatic playing -mechanism '-for said hammers: including a tracker board and perforated sheets;.of a movable damping device adaptedto beitemporarily interposed between thehammers and strings; pneumatic-actuating mechanism for shifting said 1 damping device, including .amain valve; a pneumatic actuated means including an auxiliary valve controlled by perforations in the sheet for operating said main valve; andpneumaticactuating means whereby said actuating mechanism may be manually controlled by the operator. 7 In testimony :whereof, I have hereunto signed my name, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this fifteenth day of May, 1908.

PHILIP \VUEST, Jn.

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Washington, D. C. 

